A few Harmony thoughts on Jesus’ first miracle…

“On the third day, a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.  Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding.”

If Jesus’ had met Andrew, John, Peter, Philip and Nathanael down near the traditional baptism site, there is no way they could travel up to Cana by the third day.  Cana is in Galilee, which would take a few days to reach by foot from the region of Judea.  How do we reconcile this?  A few options.

1. They left for the wedding on the third day, but did not arrive then.  Jewish weddings lasted for several days.

2.  After baptizing Jesus at the traditional baptism site, John the Baptist traveled north to continue his ministry.  Jesus reconnected with him after His 40 days in the wilderness up closer to Galilee.

3.  John’s ministry took place nearer to Galilee and all the people from Judea and Jerusalem left their region and traveled a few days north to find John.  If they suspected he might be the messiah, they’d be motivated to do this.

What are your thoughts?  Once again, another question I’ll have to add to my list to ask Jesus when we’re together 🙂

Another Harmony thought:  Did Jesus ever have to do something He didn’t sense the Father leading Him to do?

Later in His ministry, we see Jesus saying, “I do only what I see my Father doing.”    John 5:19

In the wedding feast at Cana, however, He specifically tells His mother after she asks Him to fix the wine shortage, “Woman, why do you involve me?  My time has not yet come.”  Mary knew who her Son was.  She had experienced a miracle, His birth.  She believed God could do miracles through Him.  So she asked.

Evidently, Jesus had a sense of timing from the Father.  How would He reveal Himself, and to whom would He reveal Himself?  We know that He performed many miraculous signs in Jerusalem during the Passover feast (John 2:23).  Was He meant to wait until He arrived in Jerusalem to reveal Himself through miracles?

At the wedding feast in Cana, Jesus granted His mother’s wish.  He saved the day and saved face for the wedding host by turning water into wine.

Obviously, Jesus didn’t disobey the Father.  The Father didn’t tell Him, “Don’t do what your mother asks of you!”   And by doing what His mother asked, He was indeed pleasing the Father.  It wouldn’t have been out of obedience since Jesus was no longer a child bound by the command to “obey your father and mother,” but rather an act of love, respect and humble submission.

This was Jesus’ first miracle.  He didn’t want to do it, yet He acted anyway.

A few takeaways for me from this encounter.

1.  Don’t overlook ministry opportunities just because they seem small and unimportant, like a beverage shortage at a party.

2.  Prioritizing relationships is always worth the effort, even when the act itself seems unimportant.

3.  There is a time to serve “publicly” and make a statement, and a time to serve “quietly” and not draw attention to yourself.  In Jerusalem at Passover, Jesus miracles were widely seen.  Here in Cana, Jesus didn’t perform His miracle like a “magic trick” in front of the entire wedding party.  Only His mother, the disciples, and the servants knew what He had done.

4.  Even relatively unimportant acts of service can have a significant impact.  Everyone at the wedding appreciated the great tasting wine, but that outcome in itself was trivial.  The real impact was in the lives of Andrew, Peter, James, John, Philip and Nathanael.  Jesus’ disciples glimpsed His glory and their faith grew.

 

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